Sometimes the unlikeliest friends form the greatest friendships. A funny, charming picture book from a dynamic duo.Friends Yak and Dove are complete opposites. Yak is large and Dove is small. Yak has fur and Dove has feathers. Yak is polite. Dove is ill-mannered. Yak likes quiet. Dove likes noise. One day as Yak and Dove list their differences they come to the conclusion that maybe they aren't meant to be friends. In the hope of finding a new best friend, Yak holds auditions. But when a small feathered contestant sings Yak's favorite song, the two begin to think that maybe they are alike after all . . .
Yak and Dove whimsically captures the highs and lows of friendship through the three interconnected tales of two very different friends.
On sale: September 19, 2017
Age: 4-8 years
Grade: Preschool - 3
Page count: 56 Pages
ISBN: 9781770494947
Reading level: Fountas/Pinnell: L
KYO MACLEAR is a critically acclaimed, award-winning author for big people and little people. Her most recent picture books for children include
The Liszts,
The Wish Tree,
The Good Little Book (which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award) and
Julia, Child.
The Letter Opener, her first novel for adults, won the K.M. Hunter Artists Award and was shortlisted for the Amazon.ca Books in Canada First Novel Award. Her follow-up novel,
Stray Love, appeared on several notable "Best of 2012" lists. Kyo's newest book for adults,
Birds Art Life: A Field Guide to the Small and Significant, will be published in January 2017. She lives in Toronto with singer and composer David Wall and their two children.
ESMÉ SHAPIRO is the author and illustrator of
Ooko, her picture book debut and a finalist for the prestigious Governor General's Award. She grew up in Laurel Canyon, California and Ontario, Canada. Currently she and her dog, Chebini Brown, split their time between Brooklyn and New York's Hudson Valley. A graduate of The Rhode Island School of Design, Esmé is a past recipient of both the Nancy Lee Rhodes Roberts Scholarship and The SILA West 53 Gold Award-Phillip Hayes Scholarship. She has exhibited at The Society of Illustrators and her work has been featured in Taproot and Plansponsor magazines. This is her second picture book. Connect with her online at esmeshapiroillustration.com, on twitter and Instagram @esmeshapiro.
One of Book Riot's 38 Children’s Book Gift Ideas for Clueless Grown-Ups (Winter 2018)
An Amazon "Best of the Month" Pick (September 2017)A Quill & Quire Best Kids' Book of the Year (2017)
One of Globe and Mail's 100 Best Books of 2017
PRAISE FOR Yak and Dove:
"[A] much-needed favor to humanity in reminding us of what it takes to find, keep and take good care of
true friends. . . . I smiled as I read the opening words of Yak and Dove . . . Every page of Esmé Shapiro’s art is suitable for framing." --
Peter Reynolds, The New York Times"[A]uthor Kyo Maclear and illustrator Esmé Shapiro are an unassuming comedic dream team. . . . The two make a dynamite, inventive pair and they infuse the tried-and-true odd-couple premise of
Yak and Dove with bursts of irresistibly sweet weirdness. . . . The story is a fresh friendship fable full of genuine kook and authentic feeling." --
STARRED REVIEW, Quill & Quire
"Odd-couple friendships are nothing new in children’s literature, but seldom is one portrayed with the grace and sly humor Maclear and Shapiro bring to this story." --
STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly"The humor and whimsical nature of the entries are enhanced by the watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations…
Yak and Dove will find a spot on the shelf amongst animal friendship stories." --
School Library Journal
"Sweet and just a little bit silly, and accompanied by Shapiro's enchanting watercolour illustrations, Maclear's latest captures the frustrating absurdities and lovely payoffs that come with the most intimate of friendships." --
Globe and Mail
"4/4… Yak and Dove is a story of love, a story of relationships, curious and conventional. Maclear injects a lot of humour into the text... Esmé Shapiro’s quiet, but playful, illustrations are a delightful complement to the text... Highly recommended."
--CM Magazine
